Talk
by miley-avril
Summary: After Thirteen's father's death, Foreman gets her to talk about it to make sure she doesn't head down another self destructive path.  Story's better, I'm not the best at summaries.  foreteen.
1. In the Dark of Night

**THIS IS JUST A LITTLE THING I CAME UP WITH. I'M TAKING ANOTHER SHOT AT **_**HOUSE**_**, EVEN THOUGH MY LAST ONE WAS A BIG FLOP. IF ANYONE CAN GIVE ME ANY INPUT ON THE CHARACTERS, THAT WOULD BE GREAT, THANKS. I'M A RELATIVELY NEW VIEWER, SO I'M STILL WORKING ON THE CHARACTERIZATION. PLEASE REVIEW ****J**

Thirteen was sitting at the table, fighting tears. To match her mood, rain angrily smacked at the windows, and thunder roared from somewhere off in the distance. Outside of the dark room, the rest of the hospital was bustling with life. Had she still have her peripheral vision, Thirteen would've seen that Foreman was standing at the door, hesitating on the threshold.

Taking a deep breath, Foreman entered. He was quite clear that his ex-girlfriend didn't want company, but he still went in. They may not be in a relationship anymore, but he still cared. Actually, the whole team did, even House (though he would never admit it). He walked over as quietly as he could, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly, but didn't look at him.

"Hey." He said quietly. This was one of the few times that he held emotion in his voice. Well, she actually just had that effect on him.

"What?" She asked, her tone making clear her resentment for his being there.

"I'd ask if you're ok, but I know what your answer is, so I'm just gonna say you're not, so can we move on from there and pretend you said that you weren't?" Foreman asked, hoping to lighten the mood slightly.

"Foreman, I'm fine." Thirteen said, standing up to walk past him. He stuck out his arm without even turning his head, gently pulling her back.

"Let _go_." She said, trying to yank her arm free. He wouldn't budge.

"Something happened." He stated, looking at her. She avoided his gaze, confirming his theory.

"Nothing happened." She said, again trying to get out of his grasp. Instead, he moved both hands to her shoulders, forcing her to look at him.

"Remy…" He said, letting a large amount of concern play across his face.

"Foreman, don't push, ok? It has nothing to do with you." She said, trying to twist away. Well, he had gotten somewhere, her admitting that something _was_ up.

"You'd feel better if you talk, and I want to help. Is it the Huntington's again?" He asked.

"No." She said, looking down.

"House say something?"

"No." She laughed a little.

"_Tell me_, Remy." He said, using her given name. That had gotten him somewhere before.

"Eric, _please_." Thirteen finally begged, needing so badly to just _get out of there_ so she could go cry.

"What's wrong? It's just you and me, no one else. Only the nurses are here, and it's only Rebecca and Audrey. And they're not gonna come down here. Thirteen, come on." Foreman prodded.

"This is just something I need to do alone, ok? Can you please respect that?" Thirteen questioned.

"I _could_, but I won't. Something's wrong with you, and I care. Actually, Taub commented on how little you were saying today, and House thought that you broke up with a girlfriend. We're worried." He explained. Thirteen sighed, and sat down.

"My dad died." She said, then took a shaky breath.

"Thirteen…" Was all Foreman could say.

"It was random. He was crossing the street, and a tour bus hit him." She continued, fighting tears again.

"I'm sorry. About your dad." Foreman said.

"Thanks." She said, then sighed again.

"Are you ok?" Foreman asked after a minute.

"I guess." She replied.

"I'm sorry I pushed. I didn't think it was anything like this. And talking helps, you know. If you ever want to talk about anything." Foreman said.

"It's ok. I know you were just trying to help." She said, skipping responding to the talk about it part. He understood when she didn't say anything about that.

"So… You want to talk about it? Or anything?" Foreman asked.

"What is there to talk about?" She asked.

"I don't know. I was just thinking that maybe you want to talk or something. I know a lot's going on." He explained.

"Why are you so insistent on me talking about it?" She asked, getting up to pace.

"You never talk about anything. You might bring it up, but it's almost always as an example or to talk a patient into taking the treatment." Foreman said.

"So you think that to stop this non-existent self destructive path, I need to talk about things?" She asked, with a hint of sarcasm.

"Only based on research from well respected universities and psychologists." Foreman deadpanned.

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine." She said, starting to get up to signal the end of the conversation.

"You stay up all night partying, you do drugs, does that sound fine to you?" Foreman asked, preparing to pull her back again.

"How did we go from 'I don't want to talk' to 'you're on a self destructive path'?" She asked, getting annoyed.

"I know that you're gonna do all that stuff more than usual now." Foreman said, letting the words sink in.

"Oh, I see. Cause the last person that understands what I'm going through died? Then the answer is yes." She said, yanking open the door.

"I understand, Remy!" Foreman called, desperate to keep her in the room. He really wanted to be the one person she let help her.

"You didn't see what it did to my mom. You have no idea how bad it gets, or how hard it was on my dad." She explained, coming back in to talk to Foreman.

"I'm sure I can't possibly imagine. I have seen people with it, though. But you have no idea what will be discovered." Foreman said, hoping to give her hope.

"I'm scared." She whispered. Foreman was slightly shocked; he hadn't expected her to say that. She never admitted to weakness.

"About what?" He asked. There were many possibilities.

"I don't want to lose control. My mom was horrible. I'm not even scared of dying anymore, it's just I'm scared about what's going to happen. All the pain, and…" She trailed off and just broke down. She had managed to keep it off her mind most of the time (though some of the strategies weren't the healthiest in the world), and her dad's death was, sadly, a welcome distraction. But then it reminded her of her mom, and it just made like a snowball rolling down a hill from there.

"It's ok." Foreman said, pulling her into an embrace. "You're strong, and tough, and stubborn. You're not going to go down without a fight." He said, rubbing circles on her back.

"Yeah. Real strong." She said sarcastically.

"You do realize you're acting normal, right? You're dying, and your dad just died. It's normal." Foreman said.

"Thanks." She said sincerely.

"No problem. You want to be alone, now?" He asked. She nodded. He got up and left. He wasn't going to have to worry about her tonight.

**SO, WHAT DID YOU THINK? SHOULD I CONTINUE? PLEASE REVIEW J **


	2. House Doing What House Does Best

**SO, THANKS TO THE ONE PERSON WHO REVIEWED! I'M GONNA GIVE THIS ANOTHER CHAPTER (I KNOW IT'S BEEN A WHILE), BUT REALLY, IF YOU REVIEW, I UPDATE FASTER. OR P.M. ME. ASK ANY OF THE PEOPLE WHO CONSISTENTLY REVIEW MY STORIES, I UPDATE MUCH FASTER. DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!**

The next morning, Foreman walked in. Taub wasn't there, but then again, Foreman was early. House was always in between 11:00 and 3:00, so that wasn't much of a surprise. Foreman was surprised, however, to see Thirteen. It was 6:45, and Foreman was the only one crazy enough to start his day _that_ early. She appeared to be lost in thought, the tip of her thumb resting on her lips. He opened the door like he always would, assuming that Thirteen wanted to pretend like last night never happened.

"Good morning." He said in a normal voice.

"Hi." She replied, not taking her focus off of the object that had caught her interest, which was the wall. They went down to go do their clinic duty early.

10:30.…...

Thirteen and Foreman were back to being seated at the differential table, and Taub had come in 2 ½ hours prior to House strutting in. Now, House stared at his team with the look House always seemed to have on his face.

"Something's not right." He stated, pacing around the table.

"What do you mean? We're sitting at our regular seats, you're late, and you're being a jerk." Foreman said.

"It's not that it's not right, it's that it's too normal." House said. He stopped in front of Thirteen.

"You." He said, slapping his cane down next to her, hitting the table loudly.

"What?" She snapped, looking annoyed.

"You don't smell like a bar. Or a club. Or another girl." He stated, proceeding to sniffing her.

"Do you mind?" She asked.

"Something big happened. Did you break your favorite mug because your hand twitched?" House questioned.

"Leave her alone." Foreman said.

"Oo, so you two had sex." House said.

"You wish." Thirteen said.

"So it had nothing to do with Foreman. He defended about your disease, so it's your disease. You _did_ break your favorite mug." House badgered.

"House, can you just leave her alone." Foreman said, standing up.

"You're not telling him to be quiet. You're not even attempting to stand up for yourself. Something _really _big. So, what's bigger than breaking your favorite mug? Did Cuddy tell you that you can't practice medicine anymore?" House asked, not letting up. At his last remark, Thirteen could visibly stiffen.

"And you got all this from things being too normal?" Taub asked.

"Yup. I'm God." House said sarcastically.

"House, come on. At least wait a little bit. A few days, which means I have to ask for weeks." Foreman said, almost in a begging tone, but not quite.

"So it's something that'll pass, so it's not the Huntington's." House said, using the name to try to get _something_ from his female doctor.

"You really want to know what happened? My father died!" Thirteen yelled, fists clenched. She stood up, and really, really didn't care that House had a good 6 inches on her. She punched him, and stormed out.

"Well, that isn't the first time you've been punched in the face by one of your doctors." Came Cuddy's amused voice from the doorway.

"Oh, shut up." House said, holding his now-bleeding-profusely-nose.

"I'll get the bandages." Taub said. Chase, who had kept quiet throughout the whole ordeal, was stunned. The rest of House's team bustled about, as if it was a routine that House get punched in the face.

"I think it's broken." Taub said.

"You would know. You're nose is so big you must've broken it." House said. At this, Taub walked back and let Foreman finish the job, who looked as though he had to restrain himself from hitting House as well.

"Remind me never to make her mad." Chase said. House glared at him. Foreman finished working on House's nose.

"Foreman, stay. The rest of you parasites, out." House said. They happily obliged, except for Cuddy, who wanted to know why one of her doctor's ended up punching one of her other doctors (even though he most likely deserved it).

"I'm staying." She declared, taking a seat.

"Fine." House sighed.

"What did you do?" Cuddy asked.

"I ask the questions, you're just observing." House said.

"Fine." Cuddy said, mocking House. House made a face at her.

"You knew." House said to Foreman.

"Yes, I did." Foreman said, knowing where this was going.

"And you didn't tell me that one of _my_ doctors was unstable." House said, emphasizing his "possession" over Thirteen to Cuddy.

"She wasn't unstable." Foreman defended.

"She punched me. I'm pretty sure that qualifies as unstable." House said.

"There's worse things she could've done. And House, she wouldn't have done that if _you_ hadn't pressed. You could've at least asked her in private, but you always have to humiliate everyone in front of everyone else." Foreman said, he too losing his temper slightly.

"Well, no one told me that she had a problem." House defended.

"It was none of your business." Foreman said.

"It is if she's on my team, and it would affect her work." House said.

"It wouldn't have if you didn't press." Foreman repeated.

"Look, you guys are getting nowhere. To help you out: House thinks that it was his business to know what was going on in Dr. Hadley's life, and that would be right by the team. Dr. Foreman thinks that he was doing right by Dr. Hadley and not telling House." Cuddy said, not wanting to listen to the men go around in circles all day.

"Which is right?" House asked.

"I'm not going to say anything about that. It was Dr. Hadley's decision whether to tell the team or not. I think that it was ok that she would've chosen not to." Cuddy said, not wanting to go into detail, for that would only ensue more arguing.

"Why?" House asked like a whiny 5 year old. Cuddy rolled her eyes.

"I don't have to give you a reason." Cuddy said, getting up and walking to the door. House pouted. When Cuddy was half way down the hall, Foreman said,

"You had no right to do that. That was just too far, House."

"Why are you defending her?" House inquired, the one question he'd been wanting to ask all morning.

"Because it's not fair. But you crossed the line." Foreman said.

"No I didn't, if it was Cameron, yeah, maybe, but not Thirteen. You think I like dealing with emotional doctors, god, it's the most frustrating thing in the world. If I thought she'd break down, I wouldn't have asked. Geez, Foreman, I'm not an idiot like the rest of the world." House said, like it's the most logical thing in the world.

"She's dealing with a lot, so can you just let off." Foreman said quietly, making sure no one heard.

"So she did break down when you talked to her. You guys would be better off if you just shut up, though silence sometimes says more than words." House said.

"Why would you say that? And no, she didn't." Foreman lied. If House knew what Thirteen did last night, Thirteen would kill Foreman. And then House would harass Thirteen.

"You're a bad liar, Foreman, although, I hate to admit it, you have a good poker face. Sadly, though, I know. She did, don't deny it." House said, getting up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Foreman asked, following House.

"To go find the dying doctor." House said.

"No! I will." Foreman said.

"Why not me. It's not like I'm gonna bombard her with more questions." House said, and continued limping off to the women's bathroom.

"How do you know she's in there?" Foreman asked. It only now just occurred to him that he didn't know where she was.

"Last time she cried she was in here." House said. That stopped Foreman in his tracks. House opened the door to the aforementioned bathroom and locked it when it closed.

"Young dying doctor, where are you?" House called out in a sing song voice. He was greeted with silence, then,

"Who is that?" The voice belonged to a startled woman, clearly not Thirteen.

"Oops, wrong bathroom." House said, then hurried out.

Chase was walking down the hall, not sure where he was going. He was done clinic duty, and didn't know what mood House would be in, so he figured if he walked randomly, he'd find a good place to hide. He wound up in the lab, and found a scared-looking Thirteen sitting on one of the chairs, much to his surprise.

"Uh, what are you doing here?" Chase asked, flabbergasted. Thirteen only looked up at him, unshed tears glistening in her eyes.

**SORRY TO LEAVE YOU HANGING, BUT I FEEL LIKE LEAVING THINGS OFF ON CLIFFHANGERS LATELY. PLEASE REVIEW! ****J **


	3. Snap

**COME ON PEOPLE, **_**REVIEW**_**! PLEASE! I GET AROUND 27 PEOPLE READING THE STORY A DAY, AND **_**ONE**_** OF THEM CAN'T TAKE TWO SECONDS TO TYPE: "I LIKE/DON'T LIKE IT." LIKE, REALLY, I DON'T CARE IF YOU SAY IT'S THE WORST STORY IN THE WORLD.**

Thirteen sat there, fighting tears, wondering what possessed her to come to the _lab_ of all places to hide. People frequented the place often, and, luckily, Chase was the first person to come in. She contemplated what she should do: sit, cry, talk, walk, leave, or hit him.

"I was supposed to be staying away from all human contact. Well, any contact, cause House isn't human." Thirteen said. A smile tugged at Chase's lips.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked, staying put where he was.

"Leave." She said with venom laced in her voice.

"Uh…" Chase stuttered, not sure how to respond.

"Chase, just go." Thirteen pleaded. Last night, she had learned that anger didn't get people away, it did the opposite. So, she decided to try being nice.

"If you want to talk-"

"_I don't want to talk_!" Thirteen yelled, at her breaking point. She could deal with dying patients, her disease, heck, she could deal with _House_. But what she couldn't deal with was pity, and people bugging her to talk about it was a form of pity. If one more person asked her to talk, she would end up strangling them. Chase, shocked, calmly walked out, and down to talk to House and Cuddy. He went to Cuddy's office first, figuring that House would walk into Cuddy's office soon, if he wasn't already in it. Chase knocked, then walked in. Apparently, he walked in on House and Cuddy arguing over whether or not House could give a patient chicken pox to treat the patient.

"House, you're team needs you." Cuddy said, putting an end to the debate.

"Actually, I need both of you." Chase said, closing the door and taking a few steps into the room.

"What?" House snapped. Cuddy gave him the "shut up" look, and House kept quiet, but not without a pout on his face.

"Thirteen just yelled at me. Like, really yelled." Chase informed.

"Foreman was wrong!" House yelled happily, fist pumping.

"House!" Cuddy snapped. House stopped, but didn't wipe the smirk off his face.

"Where was she?" House asked.

"Lab. Don't know why she chose there of all places to hide." Chase said, shrugging.

"Cause she wanted someone to find her." House said, limping off to find Thirteen.

**OK, SO PLEASE REVIEW! ****J**


	4. Boink!

**SO… NOT MUCH TO SAY, OTHER THAN PLEASE REVIEW!**

_*****IMPORTANT***: THIS IS SET BEFORE SEASON 7 PREMEIRE**_

**DON'T OWN IT (I REALLY NEED TO CHANGE MY DISCLAIMER: I SAY THAT ON EVERY ONE.**

House decided to approach Thirteen gently. It occurred to him, though, that any approach would most likely get him hurt. Foreman and Chase took different approaches, but only one of them got a result. House supposed that Thirteen just didn't want anyone else to see her weak and vulnerable.

"You have a problem." House said, waltzing in. So much for being gentle.

"Chase tattle on me?" She asked, getting up to pace.

"And Cuddy." House replied.

"I'm gonna kill him…" Thirteen muttered.

"Don't worry, he just said that you blew up at him. Well, not in those words, but he meant that." House said, taking the seat where Thirteen had previously sat.

"Let me guess. You're here to order me to take time off." Thirteen said, stopping to look at him.

"Well… Yeah." House said.

"I don't want to." Thirteen shook her head.

"It might be good for you." House suggested.

"No!" She yelled.

"It's perfectly rational. We'd all understand." House said.

"I've never taken time off unless I have something contagious. I didn't take time when Kutner killed himself, and I'm not gonna take time off now." Thirteen said.

"So, this is about some kind of _game_ or streak?" House asked incredulously.

"No, it's-" Thirteen started, but stopped.

"You don't want to be weak." House finished softly. He actually seemed _sympathetic_.

"I don't want to be something I'm not!" Thirteen justified.

"It's understandable. But you need to know when you're actions aren't border lining obsessive and self destructive, and cross that line." House explained.

"You're saying that just because I don't want to take time off, I'm self destructive and obsessive!" Thirteen asked incredulously, fuming.

"Just take a day to make funeral arrangements. Assuming you haven't made any already." House said, getting up.

"No." Thirteen said forcefully.

"Thirteen, this isn't just about your father's death. It's reminded you that you're dying." House said, taking a step towards her.

"You're point?" She asked, tapping her foot. She didn't like how close House was to her, both physically and mentally.

"You have 2 things going on that _sane_ people would take a week off for _1_ of them. It's your choice in the end, though. If you don't show up back in the room in 10 minutes, I'll know you took time off. No one else has to know." House said, then limped off back to the differential room.

DIFFERENTIAL ROOM, 10 MINUTES LATER…...

House, Foreman, Chase, and Taub were sitting at the table, waiting for the ER to page House with a case. The door opened, and in walked Thirteen. House glanced at his watch. _Right on the dot_, he thought.

"We have a case?" She asked, trying to ignore her colleagues' stares.

"Are you ok?" Foreman asked. Chase's eyes widened.

"You know what? The next person that asks me that will regret it." Thirteen said, taking a seat.

"Are you ok?" House asked, smiling. Thirteen got up, grabbed his cane, and hit him on the head with it. The whole room burst into laughter, even House.


End file.
